


stop, look, listen (to your heart)

by fundips



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, F/F, Fluff, Hugs, Introspection, Reunions, Spoilers, have some freezerburn for episode 4 my dudes, one-sided bumbleby, one-sided freezerburn (for now), there's not enough freezerburn fanfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-04
Updated: 2017-11-04
Packaged: 2019-01-29 12:02:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12630654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fundips/pseuds/fundips
Summary: “I missed you so much,” Weiss managed to say, burying her face in Yang’s golden locks. She had never received much affection nor was she usually open to it, not since her father had become far more controlling than when she was a child. But there was something that felt right to the embrace, her muscles becoming loose. Perhaps the hope had been there all along but it needed fire to thaw the ice that kept it hidden.





	stop, look, listen (to your heart)

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in about two hours after freaking out about the Freezerburn moment in episode 4. Had to do a one-shot to grace this moment!

Weiss would be lying if she tried to say it didn’t feel heavy. 

Her father, his words, the loss of her friends, and everything in between. “Heavy” was the only way she could define it, carrying it on her back although she never wanted to. It was cast over her like a shadow, agonizing and painful and tear-jerking. It hung by a thin thread, too fragile to hold anything so heavy. 

The first night she was captured it fell too fast, finally breaking and releasing the weight on her. Before she could hold it back she was pinned down, crushing her ribs and it was difficult to breathe. She knew that nobody would save her—that’s what Vernal said, right?—so there was no point in crying for help, breaking down on the spot. But still no one else could see her weakness and that gave her comfort, so she let the tears slide down her cheeks. Summoning her pint-sized soldier in her palms gave her hope, yes, but it was fragile hope. It almost wasn’t enough. 

And the first night she was captured she found herself dreaming, dreaming of looking at herself in the mirror in a tattered dress and frizzed hair that didn’t belong to any princess, not to any heir. Her reflection stared back like the fire in her eyes were doused in ice water, the blue sinking into a paler shade. She wasn’t used to being helpless and it unnerved her. Freedom, one of the things she valued above all, felt far away and unreachable. She tried to drag her eyes away from her reflection but she couldn’t, her gaze heavy like her heart, like her father, like his words. 

That morning she woke up thinking about her family.

As she summoned her tiny soldier in her palms she could almost feel Winter’s proud eyes upon her while her father’s serious, scrutinizing gaze wore her shoulders down into a hunch. Whenever she watched the bandits pace around her cell she felt exposed and vulnerable and she hated that, she loathed it because she was used to being guarded by a wall of ice that only she could melt when she chose to. 

And that wall of ice often crumbled and shattered whenever she would fight alongside Ruby, Blake, or Yang. She hadn’t seen them in what felt like years. Ever since her father had dragged her back to Atlas the world had flashed by like a bad movie. Team RWBY was the freedom she had always desired. Weiss was never locked inside her own head when they were beside her, but now that she was captured it felt like she was stuck in a dream, struggling to get back to reality. 

Admittedly though, Yang was something else, something far different than the rest of the team. Weiss was sure it began around the second semester and her feelings had dragged into the festival. She was secretly excited when they were chosen to fight together during the tournament and their teamwork was spectacular according to Ruby. Even Winter had made a side comment about how unexpected the results were (fire and ice, right?) and it filled Weiss with pride. 

And when Yang had lifted her ash-covered body from the stadium floor, Weiss felt right at home in her arms. Yang oozed warmth and her touch was surprisingly gentle yet firm. It was the first time she found that she cared about Yang in means that weren’t platonic, and the realization hit her like a train. 

But it was only a matter of time until Weiss saw the way Yang looked at Blake. It felt like concrete was drying in her chest. The heartbreak was unexpected, as Winter always claimed it would be—it felt like being top of the world one minute and cut down the next. She never told anyone how she felt because it would be strange to talk about how much she actually cared about Yang, not to mention how exposed it would inevitably make her feel. Weiss wasn’t one for letting down her guard but now things were different. Things were hopeless. 

Yang wasn’t here and it filled her with an even greater loneliness that could only be described as “heavy.”

 

* * *

There was a lion in the camp. 

Not literally, but the energy had shifted and bandits were anxious. They were once predators and now there was a stir of fear, a stir of discomfort and distress. The two guards who frequently stared her up and down with eyes like wolves were suddenly scared, trotting away with their tails between their legs and a shaky dread in their stature like they were met with a snarling animal ready to kill. 

And then Weiss saw them: some members of the bandits, bruised and bloodied and terrified—when were they ever terrified?—while she could see Vernal peeking out of her tent with ice-cold eyes and a stance ready to strike. 

“That’s enough! You watch your mouth in front of our leader!” 

She heard a voice, yes, it was the guard’s voice who was watching her cell but now he was in the clearing. Something was happening and she took the opportunity immediately to summon her knight. This would be her only chance to escape and she needed to take it. 

And then suddenly the tent collapsed in front of her as one of the bandits had been knocked into it and she saw the clearing of the camp. There were bandits everywhere like an infestation, surrounding a single gold-haired girl with familiar locks and… Weiss narrowed her eyes and looked closer. There was a lion in the camp, a destructive hunger-driven one and her name was—

_ “Yang?” _ She could hear blood pounding in her ears like a war drum, a sudden sense of hope rising in her throat. Her heart soared and she grasped the bars of her cell with trembling hands. Joy flooded her until all she could feel was relief. 

“Weiss?” Yang gasped, her violent red eyes shifting back to their natural purple. Last time she’d seen her Yang had no right arm, and now it was a metallic prosthetic that gleamed like the sun. Her outfit had changed too, slimmer and fitter as it hugged her curves. 

Before she knew it they were back-to-back, the circle of bandits loose and unsure around them. Her arcane soldier was now massive and expansive, towering above the camp like a giant. 

“What is  _ that? _ ” Yang asked incredulously. Weiss almost felt satisfied with her awed expression. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Weiss answered quickly, turning her head to look at Yang for a moment. “What are you  _ doing  _ here?”

“Well that’s my mom and she could take us to Ruby,” Yang replied, tilting her head as a gesture to the black-haired woman who had one of the largest swords Weiss had ever seen attached to her belt. 

The shock hit her before she physically registered it. “Your  _ mom  _ kidnapped me?!” Weiss hissed, fixing her gaze on Yang. 

“You  _ kidnapped  _ her?!” Yang’s eyes widened at her mother, her knuckles clenched into fists. Weiss felt liquid delight that Yang was protective and angry at that fact. The bandits began to yell and cause an uproar around them, seeking a fight. Weiss was ready and obviously Yang was too, their hands up and fighting stance solid and prepared. 

But what happened next was a blur. There was a flash of light and a ringing in Weiss’s ears, turning back towards where it came from. It was Vernal, the short-haired bandit that had been condescending and contemptful from the beginning. She held her Dust Rapier in one hand, but she was sure it wasn’t what caused the explosion of sound and light. 

“If you people don’t keep it together this place will be crawling with Grimm.” Yang’s mother was speaking now, her stance strong and confident and her voice filled with disdain. “Give the girl her weapon back.”

Satisfaction flooded Weiss as Vernal seemed irate for a brief moment. With some hesitation, the bandit tossed her the rapier and Weiss caught it with one hand, her grip on the handle familiar and was warm and gratifying to the touch. 

“You two, in my tent, now,” the bandit leader commanded. Yang’s eyes narrowed in response. 

“Why?” 

“If you’re really going after your sister, then you need to know the truth.” And with that the black-haired woman dismissed everyone in the clearing, her eyes flashing with anger as she turned her back on them. 

It was just her and Yang now, the clearing beginning to empty. The sunset furrowed with wispy bands of clouds, softly glowing colors from the palest amber-pink to deepest flaming red beginning to rise into the sky. Her body numbed as Yang took a solid look at her for the first time since the fall of Beacon. 

“Sorry about that—” 

But before Yang could even finish her sentence, Weiss had leaped into her arms into an embrace. For a moment there was no time, no ground, no sky. She was clinging to Yang’s neck by her arms but Yang was too strong to even slouch, holding Weiss’s weight with an arm curling around her waist. She felt her body press in, soft and warm. 

“I missed you so much,” Weiss managed to say, burying her face in Yang’s golden locks. She had never received much affection nor was she usually open to it, not since her father had become far more controlling than when she was a child. But there was something that felt right to the embrace, her muscles becoming loose. Perhaps the hope had been there all along but it needed fire to thaw the ice that kept it hidden. 

“I missed you too,” Yang whispered, squeezing her tighter. Weiss’s skin tingled where Yang touched her and her heart beat erratically in her chest. There were butterflies—no, lions in her chest, but the tenderness of Yang’s actions were so familiar it almost brought her to tears. 

As her silver-clad knight had disappeared in a flurry of snow-like dust, Weiss realized the heaviness in her heart was gone. 

**Author's Note:**

> My Tumblr is @godspeedcomplex or you can [click here](https://godspeedcomplex.tumblr.com) to follow me, ask me any questions, or talk about HxH or RWBY. I write a lot lmao


End file.
